Who is a Supervisor at VIU?
According to the BC Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, A supervisor is a person who instructs, directs, and controls workers in the performance of their duties. A supervisor can be any worker — management or staff — who meets this definition, whether or not they have the supervisor title. If someone in the workplace has supervisor responsibilities, that person is responsible for worker health and safety.
Supervisors include:
- Members of the VIU Senior Management Team
- Directors
- Campus Administrators
- Deans
- Associate Deans
- Registrar
- Associate Registrar
- Managers
- Assistant Managers
Supervisors also include a person who manages, instructs, directs, or controls other VIU community members acting in their VIU capacity when engaged in VIU work and learning activities, including studying. This includes:
- Professors
- Instructors
- VIU Biosafety Permit Holders
- Research Principal Investigators.
- Ensure the health and safety of all employees under their direct supervision.
- Know, understand, and comply with the components of the Health and Safety Management System that apply to their areas of responsibility.
- Be aware of all known or reasonably foreseeable health or safety hazards in the area where they work.
- Ensure employees under their supervision follow the roles and responsibilities outlined in specific hazard control plans.
- Ensure employees are aware of all known hazards in their work environments by communicating those hazards in a clear manner before work activities begin.
- Ensure that employees are provided with the training and tools required to perform their work safely.
- Ensure workers under your supervision have the appropriate personal protective equipment, which is being used properly, and is regularly inspected, and maintained.
- Support the implementation and execution of components of the HSMS that apply to their areas of responsibility.
- Ensure that regular workplace inspections are conducted in their respective areas of oversight to identify hazards and implement controls to manage them when identified.
- Participate in and complete health and safety investigations when required.
- Ensure that employees in their areas of responsibility comply with the requirements of the HSMS and are competent to perform their jobs safely.
- Consult with Enterprise Risk Services (Health and Safety) when considering changes to work and learning activities that may increase health and safety risks, to assess the adequacy of hazard controls.
- Promote and foster a health and safety culture in their areas of responsibility and oversight.
- Report and investigate incidents and injuries using the VIU Safety Incident Reporting System
- Cooperate with the Workers Compensation Board of BC, officers of the Board and any other person carrying out a duty under the OHS provisions or safety-related regulations.
Health and Safety Services has created a Supervisor Handbook to introduce and educate supervisors on their health and safety obligations.
WorkSafeBC offers a free online course designed to help supervisors at VIU meet their workplace safety obligations.
Access the course at http://www.supervisingforsafety.com/
JHA (Job Hazard Analysis): The process of breaking down the tasks in a specific job to identify all hazards or potential hazards that the individual performing the job may be exposed to, and control methods that can work to prevent or eliminate the risk of exposure to the hazard, leading to injury or illness.
Managers can use this template to document the hazards of each job/position that they supervise.
Safety Toolbox Talks
Start the day with your workers with a few minutes of useful conversation about effective ways to prevent hazards at work and protect employees from injuries on the job. A Toolbox Talk is an informal group discussion that focuses on a particular safety issue. Use these Toolbox Talks to spark discussion and action at the beginning of the shift. Toolbox Talks guide workers and teams through preventing many hazards on the job.
Topics to consider:
- Preventing and Addressing Workplace Bullying and Harassment
- Heat Stress
- Earthquake Preparedness (ShakeOutBC)
- Electrical Safety: Lockout/Tag out
- The VIU Severe Weather Procedure
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): what is required, when to use it and what are the limitations of its use. (e.g. staff that conduct snow and ice removal on campus are required to use additional PPE)
- Preventing Slips, trips and Falls on campus
- Working at Height: Fall Protection, Ladder Safety
- Ergonomics: Preventing Sprains and strains, Workstation set up